Tagging history: Items in Bhagat Singh’s house to get descriptions
The plan for the household items comes after Navjot Singh Sidhu, the tourism minister, who visited on October 2, was questioned by reporters about the absence of tags there.
The tourism department will soon start an exercise to give full description of things preserved in the ancestral house of martyr Bhagat Singh at Khatkar Kalan village in SBS Nagar (Nawanshahr) district, officials said on Thursday.
The items include utensils, wooden boxes, a table, an almirah, some pictures, an old wooden bed with carving, a weighing machine, a charkha (spinning wheel), and a typewriter, but none has a proper description about their historical importance or link with the freedom fighter. The museum next to it has all items described on a tag.
The plan for the household items comes after Navjot Singh Sidhu, the tourism minister, who visited on October 2, was questioned by reporters about the absence of tags there. He blamed the previous regime of the SAD-BJP and said the department would look into it.
When contacted for a follow-up, tourism director Shivdular Singh Dhillon said the department will now enquire about things preserved in the house and give descriptions after getting the authentic information. “It will done with complete authenticity.”
It is pertinent to mention here that in March 2016, when the renovation of the house was being done, the department had appealed to the public to hand over any belongings of the martyr or his family so that they could be preserved. The house, which was in dire need of renovation, was repaired by the department for the first time since 1984 when it was handed to the government by the village panchayat. Before that, the local panchayat used to take care of it.
After the renovation, it was opened to the public and many things were kept in the house; but the department failed to give any descriptions.
